Average child has just 2.5 hours free a week for leisure

Children aged 5 ' 11 years old are left with just half an hour per night to themselves, totalling just two and a half hours free time per week.

Debbie Clarke

Published:10:00Sunday 02 April 2017

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New research has revealed the average child at primary school in the UK enjoys just 2.5 hours to spare for their own leisure and rest.

It found that children attending primary schools are struggling to find enough time to maintain their required homework and extra-curricular activities, leaving just two and a half hours for them to rest and relax during the week.

The research was conducted by the team at the British interior brand, Hillarys. 2,965 British parents took part in the research, all of whom stated that they were at least 18 years old and had at least one child between the ages of 5-11 that attended a primary school in the UK.

Initially, all respondents were asked, “Does your child get homework or tasks from school to complete every night of the week?” to which the majority of parents (79 per cent) stated that they did. They were then asked if their child also received homework tasks to complete over the weekend, to which 74 per cent stated that they did.

All parents were then asked, “Considering your child’s average time of returning home from school and going to bed during the week, and excluding any time spent on school work, extra-curricular activities, meal time and household chores, how much free time does your child have per evening?” to which the average parent stated that their child has just half an hour per evening as free leisure time. This equates to just 2.5 hours over the course of the school week.

When asked how their child usually spent this free time, the top activities were ‘playing with technological devices e.g. consoles, tablets etc.’ (79 per cent), ‘watching TV’ (68 per cent) and ‘fighting with siblings’ (54 per cent). Just 15 per cent of respondents stated that their child spent their daily 30 minutes outside of the house.

When further probed about their child’s free time, two in five parents (42 per cent) said their child had ‘complained about a lack of time’, 39 per cent said that their child ‘seemed tired regularly’ and 14 per cent agreed their child had ‘become increasingly disruptive’ due to having such a busy schedule.

Tara Hall, spokesperson for www.hillarys.co.uk, said: “The average child seems to have less free time than most adults and while their education is hugely important, time for playing and resting is essential.”